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Jermyn Chow
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Organisers hope to receive more entries like this video of two-year-old Isabelle Looi singing the National Anthem, which was uploaded on Facebook by her father. -- PHOTO: YOUTUBE |
SHE may just be two, but Isabelle Looi is already impressing many with her rendition of the National Anthem.
Isabelle's voice, like that of many others, can now be heard on Facebook. The popular social networking site, along with others such as Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, are among the new media channels being used by this year's National Day Parade (NDP) organisers to get Singaporeans to express themselves.
The approach - which allows people to post text, videos and photos - is a first in NDP's 44-year history, and the result of a three-month-long study on the habits of netizens in Singapore, said Lieutenant-Colonel Rajagopal, NDP's chairman for multimedia and communications. Organisers are hoping that Singaporeans will post their reflections of National Day and the pledge.
Netizen Jason Pang - a participant in a martial arts segment of the night show - has already uploaded a three-minute video on the weekly rehearsals, while Mr Johnny Tan posted a request for the parade's soundtrack.
'We want to get everyone on board the celebrations,' said Colonel Ang Heng, who oversees sponsorship and celebrations. 'Most people will be happy to see their photos, videos and prose being showcased to the millions who will be watching.'
The team is hoping to draw as many entries as possible. Some videos, he added, will even be aired to the parade's spectators.
More than 6,700 fans have signed up at Facebook group NDPeeps since the organisers created it last month. They include the young and old at home and abroad, even from as far away as Croatia.
Organisers are also maintaining online forums for discussion at www.ndp.org.sg - the official NDP website. Meanwhile, blogs penned by the chairman of this year's NDP committee, Brigadier-General Tan Chuan-Jin and celebrity blogger Cruz Teng - a Chinese-language radio deejay - will keep readers updated on events of this year's show.
Luckier well-wishers could even score free tickets to the Aug 9 show. A few have been given a pair of tickets each to the Aug 1 preview show, and organisers might randomly give out more among those who join its Facebook group.
Offline, organisers are collecting reflections from school kids and heartlanders directly. So far, they have the entries of more than 1,000 students from schools like Catholic High and Park View Primary, expressing their hopes for the nation.
The best 300 entries will be featured in a book to be distributed to some 54,000 spectators at the preview and Aug 9 shows.
Others will be displayed to the public during a six-week roving roadshow currently in the works.
